Phil Ammann
A variety of healthcare-related bills made their way through the Legislature on the penultimate day of the 2016 Regular Session.
LobbyTools reports that the House passed House Bill 1241, which allows advanced nurses and physician assistants to order medications for patients at health facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes.
Another amended bill (House Bill 977), which seeks to alleviate Florida’s behavioral health care workforce, passed the Senate and went to the House, concurring with upper chamber’s changes the same day. HB 977 gives psychiatric nurses the authority to prescribe controlled substances for mental disorders.
LobbyTools described the legislative intent as filling a need for an additional psychiatry program at a Florida medical school.
